Insight: Echoes through Time

By Ed Pierce
Managing Editor

As the youngest member of my U.S. Air Force unit in Germany in 1977, I recall thinking that someday, if I was lucky, I might be among the oldest. Now almost 50 years later as we get ready for another Memorial Day, that thought has become reality.

Ed Pierce's first supervisors while serving 
in the U.S. Air Force were TSgt. Bill
Crosland and Sgt. Chauncy Pippin.
COURTESY PHOTO 

I had been assigned to the 601st Air Support Operations Center in Bonames, Germany as a communications specialist and it was no picnic. The isolated location was shared with a U.S. Army airfield, and my unit was entirely mobile, meaning we spent a lot of time out in trucks and living in tents outdoors.

Not only was I the youngest member of my unit at the age of 23, as it turned out, I was also the lowest ranking airman on site. As an E-1 Airman Basic, it was expected that every cleaning task, floor mopping, trash removal or weed pulling job was all mine.

My department was led by E-6 Tech Sergeant Bill Crosland from Warner-Robins, Georgia, a tall Vietnam veteran, who spoke little but when he did it was always impactful and meaningful. Crosland believed that airmen learned through experience and that meant on occasion you would fail. He would then pull you aside and use it as a lesson for improvement. He would tell me that the highest compliment that he could ever pay to someone is they never made the same mistake twice.

His second in command of our department was another Vietnam veteran, E-4 Sergeant Chauncy Pippin. He was short in stature, standing about 5-foot-5 and had a pronounced Texas drawl. It was hard to overlook all the straw-colored blond hair spilling out from under his cap, but I later found out that most of it was a toupee.

Pippin would usually lead the preparedness drills and mobility exercises, ensuring our unit had enough diesel fuel, the communications equipment was in good shape and in working order, and he was responsible for lining the trucks up properly before a unit convoy would depart the site. He would waddle from side to side when he walked and I thought he resembled the cartoon character Mr. Magoo, walking along muttering to himself.

Under the tutelage of Crosland and Pippin, in over two years there, I went from being a total newcomer to being able to perform my duties with my eyes closed. I learned every aspect and function of the equipment and how to handle problems when they came up. But I also learned an invaluable lesson in acceptance.

One day when I arrived for work, Crosland handed me a broom and told me that he wanted every unit sidewalk swept and when I finished that job, he wanted me to sweep the street in front of our unit headquarters too.

As I pushed the broom along, I questioned why I had been given such a menial task. It was mindless work and truly meant nothing, I thought. The longer I spent sweeping, the more I thought about how little my supervisors thought of me and bemoaning my fate as the lowest ranking person in my unit.

But then something happened that changed my entire way of looking at the military. Within 20 minutes after I completed my sweeping job, a staff car pulled up in front of our unit headquarters and a general stepped out for a meeting with our unit’s commander. It was a light bulb moment for me. I realized our commander had passed the word to Crosland that we needed to spruce up the grounds before the general’s arrival.

I decided that instead of questioning or overthinking every order or task that I had been given, to just go ahead and perform each job as asked, knowing that there was a reason my superiors wanted me to do these jobs. It was a revelation for me to understand the ways the chain of command and military hierarchy operated, and it ultimately paid dividends for me.

In 1978, three other E-1 Airman Basics arrived for duty at the 601st Air Support Operations Center and I was no longer the lowest-ranking person there. That fall I received my first promotion to E-2 Airman and a year later, I was promoted to E-3 Airman First Class. In November 1979, I was reassigned by the Air Force and flew home to the United States from Germany.

I’ve kept in touch over the years with a few of my friends from the 601st Air Support Operations Center. I had lunch with Sergeant Mike Hodges, who now lives in Texas, about 20 years ago. Sergeant Chuck Tarantola lived near me in Florida and came to my 50th birthday party. 

Through the years though, I have wondered what happened to Bill Crosland and Chauncy Pippin. Last week I got my answer. A Google search revealed that Crosland died in 2017 at the age of 79 and Pippin had also passed away in 2017 at the age of 77.

Today I find myself thinking back to my time with the 601st Air Support Operations Center and what it meant to me to serve with guys like Crosland and Pippin. Memorial Day is a good day for recalling their influence upon my life. <